I very much enjoyed this Eyes you recommended CH, and i don't think the Truckin'>MLB, though definitely a bit half-hearted, is all that bad(starts off pretty shaky, ends pretty good). The Let It Grow, while certainly not the best of '74 or even the tour, I think has some very nice playing from Garcia. But aside from a few other decent moments, there is little else to say about this one; it's Euro '74 after all...

You must be joking...

Historically the band has played tight, focused shows of high intensity in Germany. Not this one! The quality of this performance is clearly well below the previous two shows in London, both in intensity and particularly in execution. Keiths keyboard play is noticably off, and during the first set the band appears to be just going through the motions. I find this music rather difficult to listen to. Both Scarlet Begonias and the WRS are poorly played. The second set is no better. Truckin' sounds just aweful, even the outro jam is disapointing. And while the band tries to pull things together for a Mind Left Body Jam, it's a half-hearted attempt that never really gets off the ground. The band must have been cognicent of how poorly they were playing. Valiantly they regroup for a triple encore; the 14 minute high-energy performance of Eyes of the World is an improvement, as is a very good U.S. Blues, but it's not enough to save this stinker! (87 pts)

I was previously known as gphishmon. I had to reregister under a new name, because I forgot my password, and no longer have the email address I used to set up the initial account.

I'd say 4 1/2 stars for this show. I decided on 5 due to the quality of the audience recording. It's extremely rare to find such an old aud that's even listenable, let alone sounds as clear as this one. Hearing this, I realize a couple of things: 1) Bob actually made significant contributions on rhythm guitar that don't get heard in many 73-74 soundboards and 2) Jerry's guitar had far more brightness and lilt than I had associated with this period due to my having heard mostly boards. It actually sounds very much the same as in 76.

Highlights of the first set are an exceptional Deal for 74 (that's one song that expanded in the 80's), one of the best stand-alone Scarlets (I love the drawn-out ending), and a solid WRS (again, check out the ending). Jerry shines throughout.

I'm totally not into the Phil & Ned part of the show. The anchor jam out of Truckin' is where it's at for me. Phish fans will know what I mean by "Type 2" jamming. There seems to be a brief attempt at a Philo stomp, followed by a definitive Mind Left Body jam that segues beautifully into Wharf Rat. The cut in Sugar Mag is a nasty flaw. How sweet it is, though, to get an Eyes encore.

This is where we need more differentiation than the 5 star system. If you figure 1 star represents Highgate 95, and 5 stars 11/11/73, there are still a lot of levels in between. I couldn't possibly put this show in the category of 11/11/73, but it's a darn sight better than just about anything from the mid-80's. Maybe not for the whole show, but almost none of the shows from that period had anything close to the Truckin' jam.

This audience recording captures the energy and beauty of the Truckin> MLB> Wharf Rat very well. Triple encore? Woah. Underrated show.

And you can actually here Bobby a little bit, which you can't with the soundboards. Definitely turn up the bass. I'll rate this one once I've had a chance to listen to the whole thing. So far, Jerry's play sounds wonderful, but I'm only up through Jack Straw.